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Lists
of Workshops
Planning
Camp Democracy
Area of the Topic: Diverse Tactics
WS Agenda:
Presentation by organizers of camp. Presentation by Immigrant
Solidarity re participation in camp. Discussion. Planning.
What to Achieve?
Energized and organized planners from various parts of the
US (and abroad?).
Facilitator: David Swanson
Org: Camp Democracy
Immigration Reform:
its impact on women and children
Topic: Over ½ of the undocumented in
the United States are women and children. This workshop will
explore the impact of lack of documentation and the need for
a path to residency and citizenship for undocumented immigrants
to raise the standard of living, wages, federal and state benefits,
and to bring families out of poverty with specific emphasis
of women. Also, we will discuss ways in which immigrant women
can be protected against sexual and domestic abuse.
Workshop Agenda: Panel of at least three people, leaders of
the women’s movement in the United States and experts in
the area of civil rights, joined by at least one expert in immigration
law will discuss the current immigration legislation before
Congress, the reforms that are really needed to better the lives
of immigrant women, family reunification, and the steps participants
can take to bring these issues to the general public.
Facilitator: Zenaida Mendez, Director of Racial Diversity Programs
National Organization for Women
LGBT Caucus
Description:
LGBT immigrants face homophobia and transphobia withint heir
immigrant communities and racism and xenophobia in US LGBT
communities. Issues such as strict asylum policies, HIV ban
on immigration impact LGBT immigrants. We will discuss strategies
to network and build stronger connections, also challenge
the hetronormativity of the immigrant rights movement.
What to Achieve?
A strong netowrk of LGBT immigrant rights orgs and individuals
Facilitator: Debanuj DasGupta
Org: Queers For Economic Justice
Immigrant Media Strategy,
Talking Points Formulation
Area of the Topic: Education and Outreach
by: SmartMeMe Media Collective
More Information: Coming Soon
A Multi-Ethnic "Role-Playing"
Activist Approach towards Immigrant Education and Understanding
Area of the Topic: Education and Outreach, Student/Youth Organizing,
and Multi-Ethnic Organizing
Description:
As the son of Coptic Egyptian immigrants,
one of the sad realities of bills such as HR4437 is that they
demonstrate a general lack of understanding about the "other",
sadly portrayed as the face of hard-working new immigrants.
This type of cultural misunderstanding of the "other"
that is reflective of HR4437 and other "copycat"
legislation cannot go remain unchecked. The Middle East is
just one of many regions of "others", which continues
to suffer from such wide sweeping stereotypical strokes typified
in such tragic bills. The question has now become, "How
can we get Congress, a legislative body made up of immigrants,
to embrace and understand new immigrant perspectives?"
We need to advocate and create positive methodologies
that force Congress to be the "other" before making
pivotal decisions affecting the "other". Moreover,
this methodology must mobilize grassroots support for active
public disapproval of such tragic legislation. In other words,
both congressional officials and the general public must learn
to actively take on the perspective of the "other".
The way to do this is through role-playing
and role-reversal. Those who are anti-immigrant rights must
role-play immigrants and vice versa. In this way, we show
people who differ with our views that we are not adversaries
but collaborators in the pursuit of peaceful anti-discriminatory
social progress. Moreover, we give a human face to the immigrant
"other". This approach gives participants the chance
to see what it is like to be the immigrant "other",
to walk everyday in the often constraining and sometimes even
ostracizing world of the "other". We expose them
to the tragedies of the "other" and help them realize
how to make compromises that the "other" can agree
to.
This cannot be limited to just politics because
if we are going to effectively make this a grassroots movement,
all occupations must be involved. Journalists and scientists
who are also actively affected must be incorporated. With
this newfound understanding, the general public will push
Congress to produce legislation reflective of the universal
social progress of the "other" rather than the current
set of legislation designed to discriminate what makes America
great, its immigrants.
This workshop will begin with my perspectives
as a student with a Middle East Coptic/Christian Egyptian
background and how this historical background affects the
views of immigrants from the Middle East in their battle to
reverse the discrimination a post-9/11 world has created.
The universality of this "role-playing" methodology
and how to gain the trust of all participants involved will
then be explained. Finally, role-playing of both those testifying
to Congress regarding HR4437 as well the congressmen and women
that play a key role in this battle will be role-played by
workshop participants. This will hopefully lead to a decisive
agenda on how to better bring Congress to be against such
legislation as well as how to incorporate an even stronger
grassroots movement that brings the general public to voice
their opinion against HR4437 and other such "copycat"
legislation.
Agenda of the Workshop:
A recap of the agenda is as follows:
1. Explain my perspectives as a student with Middle Eastern
background in a post-9/11 world and how this methodology provides
a healthy environment for discussions which are often difficult
to do in
2. Provide a brief explanation on the history and background
of the methodology (role-playing, expert inclusion, role reversal,
etc.)
3. Facilitate a brief role-playing activity on how this methodology
applies to officials that deliberate HR4437 or other similar
legislation
4. Following the simulation, a discussion will ensue about
the process and what this process has shown as possible means
to reinvigorate the immigrant rights campaign in such a way
as to get the US government to better respect and implement
the necessary agendas to improve such rights. This will contribute
to the proposal the workshop culminates with on an effective
monthly action plan or policy proposal for the Unity meeting
that Sunday
What Do You Like to Achieve:
The hope is that participants will leave
with a renewed sense that immigrants are not an adversary
but a collaborator in social progress. Social tension, isolation,
and discrimination harm everyone, so together we must work
to combat it. This workshop will explain the methodology on
how to address such issues in a forum that incorporates all
views in a positively-enriching and healthy manner that leads
to productive rather than defensive dialogue. Moreover, with
this knowledge, the hope is that the participant continues
to push for immigrant rights with a renewed knowledge of how
to best adapt the campaign to better influence congressional
leaders and the general public in the needed grassroots cause
for improving immigrant rights, outreach, and understanding.
Hopefully, the participant will also try to bring this methodology
back to their home institutions or agencies to improve public
understanding of the difficulties facing today's American
immigrants, or they will choose to participate in our Session:
Middle East conference at the University of Pittsburgh next
spring 2007.
Facilitator: Daniel Armanios
Mission: Middle East
Detention and Deportation:
Overview and Organizing
Area of the Topic: Legislative
Description:
Will discuss current organizing efforts against efforts to
increase detention and deportation practices and will provide
education materials about its relationship to overall immigration
reform. Panelists include members of Detention Watch Network,
the Detention Project/Asylum Project of Capital Area Immigrants'
Rights Coalition, the National Immigration Project, Rights
Working Group, and Families for Freedom (invited).
WS Agenda:
This panel will provide an overview of detention, current
legislative proposals that create more detention and deportation,
how groups are attempting to push these marginalized topics
into the overall discussion around immigration reform and
its relationship with the criminal justice system. We will
also discuss how these issues resonate (or not) within different
immigrant communities and why and how community organizers
can begin to integrate these issues into their organization
around immigration.
What to Achieve?
Participants will have a general knowledge of current detention
and deportation issues and proposed legislative changes.
Participants will identify how these issues do/do not resonate
within their communities and will begin a discussion about
how to incorporate detention and deportation issues into their
organizing.
Facilitator: Paromita Shah/Andrea Black
National Immigration Project/Detention Watch Network
Women's Caucus
by: National Organization for Women
More Information: Coming Soon
Rights on the Line
Area of the Topic: Border
Description:
Scree AFSC/ACLU documentary that describes the migrant experience
on the US-Mexico border and how White Supremacy influences
the debate
WS Agenda:
Introductions
Background on border issues
Screen film: Rights on the Line
Discussion
Next Steps
What to Achieve?
Portray the reality of the border vs. how the extreme right
wing is portaying the border
Facilitator: Gabriel Camacho & Ruben
Chandrasekar
Org: American Friends Service Committee
Low-Wage Immigrant
Worker Strategies
Area of the Topic: Labor
Description:
Discuss fair wage campaign of Greater Boston and low-wage
South Asian worker project in Baltimore.
WS Agenda:
Intorductions
outline of two case (Boston and Baltimore)
Discussion of case studies
Sharing Best practices and tools
Can this be replicated in your area
What to Achieve?
Learn how to help recover wages and enforce labor law for
immigrant communities
Facilitator: Gabriel Camacho and Ruben Chandrasekar
Org: American Friends Service Committee
Away from Militarization
and Towards Human Mobility: Civil Disobedience and Direct Action-Militarization/Diverse
Tactics to Achieve Goals
Area of Topic: Diverse Tactics
This workshop will provide an overview of
the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico divide and talk about
the impacts of low-intensity conflict. The workshop will also
talk about what the militarization of the border seeks to
prevent; human mobility. The final part of the workshop will
focus on ideas of civil disobedience and direct action that
could be used to counter the militarization of the border
and put forth a human rights agenda.
Human mobility is a concept which pre-dates
the United States of America. For thousands of years human
beings have been migrating from one area to the next with
little impediment from Governments. The more recent phenomenom
is the militarization of border areas which seeks to prohibit
human mobility. Using a human rights framework, this workshop
will show how the militarization of the border is resulting
in numerous deaths, separation of families, racial profiling,
and human rights violations.
The workshop will also talk about the concept
of 'human mobility.' While militarization aims to keep people
out and control those within, the concept of human mobility
forces people to analyze the impacts of militarization in
terms of human rights. When fundamental human rights collide
with the rights of a nation-state, who wins?
If the laws of the nation-state are fundamentally
illegitimate, immoral, and contradict human rights, then the
plan of action must include civil disobedience and direct
action. Thousands of migrants engage in civil disobedience
annually and this workshop will talk about how those with
privilege can also engage in civil disobedience and give an
overview of civil disobedience and direct action tactics used
historically in social movements
Ray Ybarra
Ira Glasser Racial Justice Fellow
American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
War on Terror Against
Immigrants--The Arabs and Muslim Experience
Area of Topic: Multi-Ethic Organizing
The recent wave of anti-immigrant legislation
and overall xenophobia is very much a product of the "war
on terror". Politicians, the media, and racist groups like
the minuteman have used the September terrorist attacks to whip
up hysteria against "illegal immigrants". Arab and
muslim immigrants were in many ways the first victims of this
wave of attacks on immigrants and their rights. While there
has been some effort by Arabs and muslims to resist the attack
on their rights and the racism accompanying it, more needs to
be done to build solidarity with other immigrant communities
and organize for immigrant rights. This workshop will seek to
educate others about the situation that arab and muslim immigrants
currently face and begin the process of organizing them around
this issue.
Three speakers interspersed with video clips from the documentary
"Brothers and others". If feasible, break out into
smaller groups to discuss education and activism.
Develop a network of groups and individuals
(activists or not) who work on issues of immigrant rights
in the Arab community.
Facilitator: Rami Elamine
Latest Updates on
the Immigrant Legislation - An Introduction
Area of Topic: Legistrative
by: National Immigrant Solidarity network
More Information: Coming Soon
Panel: Immigrant Student
Organizing
Area of Topic: Student, Youth Organizing
by: National Council of La Raza, National
Asian American Student Confernce
More Information: Coming Soon
Multi-Ethnic Organizing
Area of Topic: Multi-Ethnic
The first national US Social Forum will be
held in June 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. This workshop will
be on the significance of the US Social Forum and the importance
of ensuring that the immigrant rights movements will be involved
in it.
Facilitator: Cheri Honkala, Galen Tyler and
others TBA
Org: Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
Acknowledging the
Role of Faith in Addressing Social Justice and Defending Immigrant
Rights
Area of the Topic: Multi-ethnic/generational/faith, Community
support
Open discussion and panel from multi-generational,
multi-ethnic members of various faith-based groups already
involved in works of social justice, particularly in supporting
and defending immigrant rights. Some of the discussion questions
we will address include:
*How does our faith call us to address social
justice, specifically immigrant rights?
*What are some of the practical means through
which people of faith can find common ground and build an
inter-faith solidarity network to defend and support the dignity
and humanity of immigrants?
Facilitator:
April Joy Guiriba Damian
Trade and Immigration:
Organizing around the failed "Free Trade Model"
Area of the Topic: Labor
Description:
There are many within the general public, as well as among
organizers, who do not understand the relationship between
Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and immigration, specifically
the aspect of FTAs causing mass immigration. These FTAs are
promoted by the same people who demonize the immigrants, and
call for a militarization of the border and deportation of
so-called illegals. While the hypocrisy is quite evident,
it is hardly ever mentioned, or used as a tool for exposing
the truth of the situation. The idea that capital and profit
can move freely across borders but labor cannot needs to be
highlighted. In addition, it is critical that the effect of
FTAs in driving people from their land be made more known
amongst the American public.
WS Agenda:
This workshop will provide organizers with the information
necessary to convey these ideas and to explain how the "Free
Trade Model" works and how it is directly responsible
for increased immigration. We will examine the effects of
the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and look at
the potential effects of the recently implemented Central
America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), Plan Puebla Panama (PPP)
and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The workshop
will cover
Agricultural issues, gender, workers rights and land dispossession,
in addition to immigration.
What to Achieve?
To provide organizers with the tools and knowledge needed
to present a simple yet complete critique of the 'Free Trade
Model" and its relationship to immigration. This will
allow for broader education related to trade in general, and
also enable one to show how those calling for an end to immigration
are the same ones that are creating immigration. We will also
explore alternatives to the current model.
Facilitator: Jon Hunt
Org: Campaign for Labor Rights
Panel: Labor Union
and Immigrant Organizing
Area of Topic: Labor/Multi-Ethnic
Description:
grass roots organizing, organizing does not always mean signing
up a company, sometimes its teaching people to stand up for
one another collectively. Teaching people unity at the work
place, sometimes is not the easy thing to do. We as organizers
need to remember that these people have families that depend
on that pay check, and the employers know that too...
WS Agenda:
Teaching the new organizers what to look for in a campaign,
the pit-falls. showing how to earn TRUST, loyalty & a
strong committee member
What to Achieve?
People leaving with a sense of knowing there's a joy in helping
people, and organizing them is one of them, not only for them
but their family.
Facilitator: Pete Coyle
Org.: Carpenters' District Council
of Greater Kansas City and Vicinity
The Minutemen: From
the Beginning
Area of the Topic: Border
Description:
This workshop will serve to enlighten, enhance, and equip
immigrant rights activists with the necessary background,
tools, and experiences that have been employed in the struggle
to demoralize, defuse, and debunk these hatemongers, their
actions and their clandestine message of white superiority.
WS Agenda:
Presentation
Q and A
Reports from different regions
Discuss on whether to confront or not
Wrap up
discussion
What to Achieve?
Inform the group on how the Minutemen were organized, and
the efforts that preceded them. It is important that we understand
who they are and their timeline to see how the developments
in DC are correlated.
This is a vital opportunity for those myths,
miscommunications, and inaccuracies around the origins of
and organizing around the may 1st mobilization to be outlined
and clarified by those who were inherently involved and organizing
the event nationwide.
The workshop speak of it in terms of a national
gone international action, and how it brought the international
working class together like never before.
Facilitator: Jesse Diaz
Org: March 25th Coalition
Day Laborer Organizing
Area of Topic: Multi-Ethnic
Org.: Casa Freehold
More Information: Coming Soon
Panel: March 25 "Grand
Marcha", May 1 "A Day Without Immigrant" Organizing
Experience
Org.: Los Angeles March 25th Coalition, New
York May 1st Coalition
More Information: Coming Soon
"Hush":
An interactive study of a one-act play
Area of Topic: Immigrant Detention
Description:
This workshop aims at looking into the issues of immigrant detention
and the importance of belonging.
It consists of the exploration of a short dramatic act that
tells the story of two immigrants awaiting deportation.
The story is a dissection of both the emotional and the political
issues that accompany an immigrant's daily life.
The rationale for this mode of presentation is the belief that
it is incumbent upon the oppressed to tell their story over
and over again, until someone finally listens.
The workshop will engage the participants through role-play
and follow-up discussions which will include suggested legislative
measures that ensure "belonging" rather than "ostracizing".
Facilitator:
Mkawasi Mcharo: Co-Coordinator, Washington Peace Center
Countering Military
Recruitment in our Immigrant Communities
Area of the Topic: Community Support
Description:
The U.S. military has been on an intense drive to recruit
youth in the service of military interventions in Iraq and
other countries. Communities of immigrants as well as other
working class communities have been targeted. Participants
can hear about the experience in a largely Latin American
community in Chelsea, MA and from the experience of any other
community that would like to participate.
WS Agenda:
A) Presentation from Chelsea Uniéndose en Contra de
la Guerra and from any other group with this type of experience.
B) Discussion
Facilitator: John Harris
Org: Chelsea Uniéndose en Contra de la Guerra
The Immigrants, The
Economy and Tax Policy
Area of the Topic: Education & Outreach
Description:
the workshop will be explore how immigrants are supporting
the Us economy as well the tax policies.
The workshop could be bilingual, English/Spanish
What to Achieve?
Spotlight the growing economic inequality in general but specific
on immigrants
Facilitator: Jeannette Huezo and Adrian Boutureira
Org: United for a Fair Economy, UFE
Reading Between the
Headlines: Learn to analyze news coverage
Area of Topic: Education & Outreach
Description:
Mainstream media coverage of immigration and immigrant rights
has skewed the issues and greatly impacted public debate.
Learning to put together a cohesive and well-documented analysis
of biased or inaccurate media reports is a critical first
step towards beginning to change the coverage. In this workshop
you will learn FAIR's time-tested methods for identifying,
documenting and challenging inaccurate or unfair news coverage.
FAIR's workshop provides a foundation for SmartMeme's workshop
on developing effective stories to tell the media and the
public.
WS Agenda:
Go over seven steps of media analysis with group participation
and discussion; break into groups and brainstorm specific
ways to incorporate media analysis into activism.
What to Achieve?
learn how to identify, document and challenge inaccurate or
unfair news coverage in order to shape the public debate
Facilitator: Julie Hollar
Org: Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting
How To Do Your Congressional
Lobbying
Area of Topic: Legistrative
by: Sue Udry
Legislative Action Coordinator
United for Peace and Justice
More Information: Coming Soon
Overview of Latino
Immigrant Politics
Area of Topic: Multi-Ethnic
by: Dr. Gabriela Lemus
League of United Latin American Citizens
More Information: Coming Soon
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